Retort



L. L. SUIVIIVIERS.

RETORT.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. I2, 1920.

g Patented. July 13191922 2 SHEETS-SHEET I- I. I I IIIII lIII III l III.

Lz SUMMERS.

REToRT. APPLICATION FILED AUG. l2, 1920.

E Patented July M, 1922,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Jefa/md 5cc/751736115* ye.am.ear t ttt LELAN'D L. SMIVIERS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

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Specification of Letters latent.

Patented July 11, 10,22

Application filed August 12, 1920. Serial No. 402,944.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

ful Improvements in Retorts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to coke retorts.

One object of the invention is to improve the construction of coke retorts for producing an improved grade of colte.

Another object is to cause the proper feeding of the material and its compression throughout the entire height of the retort and to cause ready and unimpeded move- 'nient of such material through the retort.

These andv other objects are accomplished by means of the arrangements disclosed on the accompanying sheets of drawings, in which- .Figure 1 is sectional view my inventin;

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view taken in the plane of line 2-2 of Figure 1';

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the same retort taken in the p lane of line 3-3 of Figure 1; and,

Figure e is a longitudinal sectional view through a modified form of retort embodying my invention.

In my former Patent, No. 943,610, of December 14, 1909, I have shown a colte oven in which the material to be coked is fed from a vertical hopper to a reciprocating, horizontal floor, by means of which floor the Vmaterial 1s 'fed through the oven during the coking process. It rwill be noted that in this prior patent the floor is considerably wider than the height of the sides of the retort, the heat, as shown in this patent, being preferably applied from the upper wall of the retort.

In this eonstructionfthe friction between the material and the floor is sufficient to overcome the friction between the material and a fragmentary longitudinal of a colte retort embodying the side walls-of the retort, so that the movement of the floor toward the discharge end of the oven carries the material toward the discharge end, while the opposite movement of the floor vresults in a highcompression of the material in the retort.

In the present application, lI show a retort in which the heating ducts are in the side walls of the retort. This necessitates a narrowing of the retort in order that the `heat may pass through the material under treatment to a suticient degree. The narrowing of the reciprocating floor, however, in such a retort results in a loss of frictional resistance between the material-and the floor and an increase in such resistance between the material and the side walls.

In order, therefore, to provide in this type of oven a suflicient frictional resistance between the material and the floor as will enable the floor to feed the material through the oven and at the same time produce the desirable compression, I provide the floor with a fixed `fin or die, which in effect forms a part of the licor in the sense that it provides an additional friction surface for the floor. This friction surface extends into the body of the material so as to cause all layers of the material to move with ythe movement of the floor. i

Referring to Figures 1 to 3, it will be noted that I have shown the horizontal type of retort having a horizontally extending walled chamber 10 for the reception of carbonaceous material which is supplied .vertically through a bin or chute 11. The coal on passing vertically downward by gravity through the bin 11 is deposited upon the` forwardv end of the reciprocatory conveyor 12 which is actuated back and forth by a suitable ram mechanism 18. As shown in Fig'- re 1, the conveyor 12 is in its rearwardmost position. liet it be assumed that the chamber 10 is filled with carbonaceous material in Vvarious stages of distillation, suoli, for example, as raw coal in the forward end, carbonaceous material in a. plastic state in- ;termediate the length of the retort, and solid colte at the rear end thereof, it being understood, of course, that the walls of the chambers 10 are heated by any suitableheating medium passing through ducts 14j, as is usual in ret-erts of this nature. the distilled gases from ltheearbonaceous material passing through an outlet 15 to any suitable main 16. `With the conveyor 12 in the position shown in the figures of the drawings and with the carbonaceous material in the different stages above described, let it be assumed that the conveyor 12 is drawn outwardly from the oven. Such movement causes a compression of the carbonaceous material in the chamber 10, and particularly of the material which is in a plastic or semi-plastic condition; also at the same time some of the rigidly formed coke at the rear end of the oven is pushed llO off of the conveyor 12 into the coke chute 17 As the conveyor is thrust back into the retort, space is left atl the forward end thereof :tor the reception otl an additional supply of raw coal which automatically falls by gravity through the chute 11 to take up the -unoccupied space on the conveyor prepara- .increasing the diliiculty of moving the material, and also resulting in poor compression, especially in the upper part oi" the chambers or ovens, which upper parts many times may not be filled.

To overcome all of these disadvantages, I have provided what I choose to call a fin or die 18 which is mounted upon and movable with its associated conveyor 12. In Figures 2 and 3 I have shown two forms which this iin or die may assume. Of course, it is understood that the same may assume other forms, but preferably I have shown at the lei't hand side of Figure 2 a simple vertical n 18 which extends vertically from the conveyor 12 to a point directly adjacent the upper wall of the oven or chamber 10, thereby dividing said chamber into two parts whereby the heat from the walls may more readily penetrate through a relatively thin mass of carbonaceous material :tor distilling same. At the same time, as the licor with its material vpasses through the retort the material adheres readily to the fin 18. The fin is a size such that the area o'f the iin and floor in contact with the material is greater than the area ot the chamber or retort walls with the material. This, owing to the increased friction due to the iin, results in a compression of the carbonaceous material throughout the entire height of the iin andv at the same time renders progressive movement of the carbonaceous material a simpler and easier matter.

v At the right hand side of Figure 2 I have shown a modiiied form of fin 19, the main portion of which extends vertically in the chamber 10 and has laterally extending flanges or shelves 2O forming pockets in Which the material is compressed and given the form outlined by the openings between said flanges. Y

It will be understood, of course, that these pockets on the side of the iin may be formed inl any desired coi'iiiguration, sol that as the plastic portion of the material is forced' through thesepockets under heavy compression this plastic mass may be thus formed in the desired shape, so that in this way the 'briquettes of heavily compressed carbonized oit the more volatile products, raw coal being passed into the vertical chamber in any suitable manner. Instead of the. carbonaceons material being conveyed as raw coal to the horizontal chamber 10, as in Figures 1, 2 and 3 ofthe drawings, the carbonaceous material in the arrangement shown in Figure l ispassed to the horizontal chamber 10 in,

a partially distilled condition, and, as a matter of fact, being in a. plastic or semiplastic condition ready for further distillation and compression when it reaches the horizontal chamber. Otherwise the parts are the same as described hereinabove. means ot this arrangement compression may be applied to the carbonaceous material throughout the Vheight of the horizontal chambers or retorts and materials may be handled in a plastic or sticky condition in 'which they tend to adhere or become attached to side walls or other portions of the retort, the adhesion to the fin causing them to become compressed so that such plastic materials may be readily conveyed through the retort. rIhe iin, being embedded in the carbonaceous material, since it is arranged intermediate the longitudinal edge of the conveyor Hoon-is not directly exposed to thek action of the heat and is, therefore, at all times surrounded by a protecting covering o1I carbonaceous material. The dimensionsv oit the lin may be such. as to occupy any desired portion ot the retort space. and accordingly thin layers ol carbonaceous niaterial may be conveyed through the retort with a rapid penetration of heat through the relatively thin layers or' such material,

which, however, isfrigidly held by the iin so height of the retort, though it may `extend the full height of the retort for only a p0rtion of its length and be of less height for the remaining portion of its length. This fin may extend the entire length of the retort, or only partially the length of the same, these conditions depending somewhat upon the character of the carbonaceous material being treated in the retort. In practice, I prefer to have the fin extend the full height of the retort but only partially through the length of the same, as I have found this to be sufficient to obtain the desired movement and compression upon most kinds of carbonaceous material.

While I have illustrated and described herein. one method of increasing the frictional resistance between the floor and the material being conveyed thereby, it is my intention in the following claims to cover all such modifications which do not involve a departure from the spirit and scope of my invention, as I believe that I am the first in this art to suggest any means for feeding material through a retort of less width than height by increasing the frictional resistance between the floor and the material carried thereby.

I claim:

1. A coke oven comprising a retort having relatively large side wall area as considered in relation to the floor area, a reciprocating floor in said retort, means for feeding material to one end of said floor and for restraining the material against movement except in a direction toward the retort, and means for increasing the frictional resistance between the floor and the material.

2. In a coke oven, a retort having heating ducts in its side walls, a reciprocating floor in said retort, said floor being substantially less in area than the side walls of the retort, means for feeding carbonaceous material to one end of said floor and for withdrawing material from the opposite end of the floor, and means fixed to said floor and extending longitudinally thereof for causingfrictional resistance between the floor and the material.

3. In a coke oven, a retort having heating ducts in its side walls, a reciprocating floor in said retort, means for feeding carbonaceous material to one end of said floor and for withdrawing material from the opposite end of the floor, and a lin fixed to said floor and extending longitudinally thereof for causing frictional resistance between the floor and the material.

4. In a coke oven, a substantially horizontal retort having heating ducts in its side walls, a reciprocating floor in said retort, means for feeding carbonaceous material to one end of said floor and for withdrawingl the material from the other end of said floor, means fixed to said floor and extending longitudinally thereof intermediate the longitudinal edges of the floor for causing frictional resistance between the material and the floor.

5. In a coke retort, a walled chamber for the reception of carbonaceous material, a conveyor mounted in said chamber for causing a progressive movement of said material, and a fin carried by said conveyor to which the carbonaceous material clings.

6. In a coke retort, a walled chamber for the reception of carbonaceous material, a conveyor mounted in said chamber for causing a progressive movement of said material, and means carried by said conveyor and extendinglongitudinally thereof and upwardly into the material and to which the carbonaceous material clings.

7. In a coke retort, a walled chamber for the reception of carbonaceous material, a conveyor mounted in said chamber for caus ing a progressive movement of said material, and a vertically arranged fin carried by said conveyor for causing said material to be compressed throughout the entire height of the chamber when said material is subjected to compression.

8. In a coke retort, a walled chamber for the reception of carbonaceous material, a conveyor mounted in said chamber for causing a progressive movement of said material, and a vertically arranged fin having laterally extending flanges carried by said conveyor.

9. In a coke oven, a retort having relatively large side wall area as considered in relation to the floor area, a reciprocating floor in said retort, means for feeding material to one end of said floor and for restraining the material against movement except in a direction toward the retort, and means fixed to said floor and extending into the mass of material on the fioor for causing the material to move with the floor.

10. In a coke oven, a retort, a reciprocating floor in said retort, means for feeding material to one end of said floor and for restraining the material against movement except in a direction toward the retort, and a iin fixed to said floor and extending into the .mass of material on the floor for causing the material to move with the floor.

11. In a coke oven, a retort, a reciprocating floor in said retort, means for feeding material to said floor and for restraining the material against movement except in a direction toward the retort, means fixed to said floor for causing the mass of material to move with the floor, said means being provided with die portions for shaping the plastic portion of the material during the movement of the floor.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 30th day of July, 1920.

LELAND L. SUMMERS. 

